Offset base storage rack assembly

ABSTRACT

A storage rack system includes a base detachably secured from the storage rack wherein the materials of construction for the base are a heavier gauge material than that of the storage rack for improved weight carrying capability and for resistance to abuse while minimizing the cost of the rack assembly. The base has offset front legs closest to the aisle to protect the front legs from accidentally being hit by a forklift truck.

[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 60/147,710, filed Aug. 6, 1999, and fromPCT/US00/20054, filed Jul. 21, 2000, which are hereby incorporated byreference. This invention relates to storage racks and, moreparticularly, to improved versions of storage rack assemblies designedfor high density storage of goods delivered by power driven liftequipment such as fork trucks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Since warehouse space for storage of goods is expensive, thereare many advantages to an efficient and well organized vertical storagerack system which will allow the storage of goods in an orderly fashion.Since the products are stacked vertically, optimum use of the floorspace may be achieved. The disadvantage is that the goods to be storedmust now be raised to the height of the rack where they are to bestored. The moving and especially the raising of the goods is mostefficiently accomplished via fork trucks.

[0003] In as much as fork trucks require aisles to travel to the desiredlocation to either store or retrieve goods from a particular rack, thisaisle space is not available for storage. To maximize the storage areagiven a limited number of square feet in a building or warehouse, onemust minimize the area reserved for aisle space for the fork trucks.

[0004] Unfortunately, as one reduces the size of these aisles, the roomto maneuver for the fork trucks is also reduced, and the end result isthat the fork trucks sometimes hit the storage racks, damaging the forktrucks as well as the storage racks.

[0005] Prior art (Konstant U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,502; Klein U.S. Pat. No.4,117,938) has taught the use of recessed legs towards the bottom of therack in order to give more room to maneuver to the fork trucks at theground level. This has typically been accomplished by angling back thefront legs (the legs closest to the aisles), which puts these legs outof harm's way. However, the weight of the storage rack and of the goodsstacked thereupon is then concentrated on this angled leg, andsubstantial use of struts and reinforcing members is required. Thismakes it very difficult, if not impossible, to retrofit existing storageracks in the field. The retrofit, if possible, is difficult, expensive,and time consuming, and requires specialized skills, such as a goodwelder to complete the task. Furthermore, while the bottom of the angledlegs is far removed from the aisles, the closer one gets to the topportion of the angled legs, the closer one is to the aisle and to thedistinct possibility of having a fork truck run into the angled leg.Also, since the prior art designs use the same upright members for theentire storage rack, the only way to beef up one portion of the uprightis to beef up the entire height of the rack.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention provides an offset frame, which may befield-installed by bolting onto a storage rack. This design provides thefollowing distinct advantages over the prior art:

[0007] The base is designed and manufactured as a completely separatepiece from the storage rack itself. Thus, an existing storage rack maybe raised (or cut off) and placed on top of the base without anyadditional bracing, struts, or reinforcing members being required of theexisting structure. Furthermore, for completely new installations,manufacturing the top and bottom sections separately makes both of themeasier to manufacture and install.

[0008] The base is designed with the front legs (closest to the aisles)offset back from the aisle. These front legs are substantially vertical,such that the entire leg is set back and away from where the fork truckstravel.

[0009] Since the base is a completely separate member, it may be made ofheavier members than the rest of the rack in order to support thecantilevered storage rack load without increasing the cost of the restof the rack. Indeed, all the base members may be made from heavystructural members that enhance the frame—s strength and abuseresistance, while the storage rack itself may be manufactured of lightergauge materials to save on manufacturing costs and to reduce the weightof the structure.

[0010] The present invention simply bolts a cantilevered base onto thebottom of a storage rack, which readily permits modification of existingframes in the field to turn an ordinary rack into an offset rack. Usingseparate base and top members, using heavier structural members for thebase than for the top, and the all-bolted capability contribute to thisease of retrofitting an existing storage rack.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011]FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a prior art storage rack;

[0012]FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of a rackmade in accordance with the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 3 is a side view of the base portion of the rack of FIG. 2;

[0014]FIG. 4 is a top view of the base of FIG. 3;

[0015]FIG. 5 is a side view of the rack of FIG. 2 as it is beingassembled;

[0016]FIG. 6 is a side view of the bottom portion of the rack of FIG. 2;

[0017]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a rack madein accordance with the present invention;

[0018]FIG. 8 is a side view of the base of the rack of FIG. 7;

[0019]FIG. 9 is a top view of the base of FIG. 8;

[0020]FIG. 10 is side view of the rack of FIG. 7 being assembled; and

[0021]FIG. 11 is a side view of the bottom portion of the rack of FIG.7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0022]FIG. 1 shows an example of a prior art rack that may beretrofitted to make a rack in accordance with the present invention. Afirst preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.2-6. A second preferred embodiment is shown in FIGS. 7-11.

[0023] The rack 10 of FIG. 1 has a plurality of forward legs 12, aplurality of rear legs 14, and horizontal beams 16 interconnecting theforward and rear legs 12, 14 to form shelves to support products. Eachpair of forward and rear legs 12, 14 also includes horizontalforward-to-rear supports 18 and angled forward-to-rear supports 20. Thisrack encounters the problems discussed above with respect to prior artracks, which may be hit by forklift trucks maneuvering along the aislesin a warehouse.

[0024]FIG. 2 shows a rack that is recessed at the bottom to greatlyreduce the opportunity for impact with the forklift trucks. This rack110 may be made in this form initially, or it may be made byretrofitting the prior art rack of FIG. 1. This rack also has front legs12, rear legs 14, horizontal beams 16, horizontal forward-to-rearsupports 18, and angled forward-to-rear supports 20. In addition, it hasa base 40 at each pair of forward and rear legs 12, 14. The base 40 isshown in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4. Each base 40 has a front receptacle 42and a rear receptacle 44. A structural member 45 connects the front andrear receptacles 42, 44 together, and a support leg 46 projectsdownwardly from the structural member 45 between the front and rearreceptacles 42, 44 and terminates at ground level with a foot 47, whichbolts into the floor.

[0025]FIGS. 5 and 6 show how the rack is assembled onto the base 40. Thefront leg 12 of the rack is a channel, which is shorter than the rearleg 14. If the rack 10 of FIG. 1 is being retrofitted, the front leg 12would be cut off at the desired height, and any cross members 18, 20that were connected to the portion of the front leg that is cut offwould also be removed. The front leg 12 receives internally the upperportion of a splice member 12A, which preferably is a rectangular orC-shaped structural member. The lower portion of the splice member 12Ais received in the front receptacle 42. The receptacle 42 and the frontleg 12 are secured to the splice member 12A by fasteners, which, in thispreferred embodiment, are bolts 48, extending through holes 50 in theleg 12 and the splice member 12A or through holes 50 in the receptacle42 and the splice member 12A. The rear leg 14 of the rack extendsthrough the rear receptacle 44 to the ground level and is secured to therear receptacle 44 by bolts 48 extending through holes 50 in the rearleg and the rear receptacle 44. As shown in FIG. 4, in this preferredembodiment, the front receptacle 42 is a rectangular-shaped structuralbeam, and the rear receptacle 44 is a C-channel-shaped structural beam.

[0026]FIG. 6 shows the bottom portion of the assembled offset rack 110.It can be seen that the support leg 46 of the beam 45 and the rear leg14 of the rack rest on the ground, while the front leg 12 and frontreceptacle 42 are elevated off of the ground a desired distance, whichusually is in the range of six inches to thirty-six inches for a rackthat is retrofitted and six inches to ninety-six inches for a new rack.The support leg 46 is recessed back from the front receptacle 42 adistance of about six to twenty-four inches.

[0027] When a prior art rack 10 of FIG. 1 is being retrofitted to makethe offset rack of FIG. 2, it is not necessary to move the original rack10 or even to unload it. The retrofit may be done simply by providing anexternal support for the front legs 12 above the point where they are tobe cut off, cutting them off, and installing the splice member 12A andthe base 40. This does not require welding or a substantial amount oflabor and can be accomplished quickly and easily.

[0028]FIGS. 7-11 show a second embodiment of a rack 210 made inaccordance with the present invention. In this design, the base 240includes a front receptacle 242 and a rear receptacle 244 connectedtogether by a structural member 245. Projecting downwardly from thestructural member 245 between the front and rear receptacles 242, 244 isa support leg 246, which extends to the ground and terminates at a flatplate 247. This base differs from the previous embodiment in that therear receptacle 244 also serves as a rear support leg, extending all theway to the ground level and terminating at a foot 247. If the base 240is tall, as shown here, it will have additional bracing 218, 220. (Theheight of the base may be tall or short in either embodiment.) Very tallbases may require additional bracing 218, 220. The rack that isassembled onto this base 240 has front and rear legs 12, 14 cut to thesame length and inserted into their respective receptacles 242, 244. Thelegs 12, 14 preferably are secured to the receptacles 242, 244 byfasteners, which, in this preferred embodiment, are bolts 48, extendingthrough holes 50 in the respective members that are being joined. Inthis preferred embodiment, both the front and rear receptacles 242 244are preferably rectangular cross-section structural members, althoughother shapes of structural members could be used instead. The base 240may be made of much thicker-walled, heavier-duty material than the legs12, 14 of the rack.

[0029] In order to retrofit the rack 10 of FIG. 1 to form the rack 210shown here, the foot plates at the bottoms of the legs 12, 14 are cutoff, the rack 10 is lifted up, and the legs 12, 14 are inserted into thereceptacles 242, 244 of the base 240 and secured in place. Of course, ifthis rack were being made originally, the foot plates would not be addedto the legs 12, 14, and the legs 12, 14 would simply be inserted intotheir respective receptacles 242, 244 and secured in place.

[0030] The rack 210 shown in FIGS. 7-11 has the front leg 12 and itsfront receptacle 242 terminating at a desired elevation above the groundlevel, in this embodiment approximately three to six feet, and thesupport leg 246 is recessed from the front of the rack approximately sixto twenty-four inches.

[0031] It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that modificationsmay be made to the embodiments described above without departing fromthe scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A storage rack, comprising: a base definingforward and rear receptacles; and a substantially vertical, downwardlyprojecting support leg between said forward and rear receptacles, whichextends to the ground and supports said base, with at least said forwardreceptacle at an elevation above the ground; a storage rack supported onsaid base, including a forward leg secured to said forward receptacleand a rear leg secured to said rear receptacle, with at least saidforward leg terminating at an elevation above the ground.
 2. A storagerack as recited in claim 1, wherein said forward and rear legs aresecured to their respective receptacles by bolts.
 3. A storage rack asrecited in claim 1, wherein said base is made of heavy, structuralmembers, and said storage rack is made of lighter weight members.
 4. Astorage rack as recited in claim 1, wherein said forward and rear legsare received inside their respective receptacles, and connectors extendthrough said legs and into their respective receptacles.
 5. A storagerack as recited in claim 1, wherein said forward leg is shorter thansaid rear leg, and said rear leg extends through said rear receptacleand rests on the ground.
 6. A storage rack as recited in claim 1, andfurther comprising at least one splice member secured both to saidforward leg and to said forward receptacle.
 7. A storage rack as recitedin claim 6, wherein said splice member extends inside and is fastened tosaid forward leg and said forward receptacle.
 8. A storage rack asrecited in claim 1, wherein said base also includes a rear leg whichextends to the ground.
 9. A storage rack as recited in claim 8, whereinsaid rear leg also serves as said rear receptacle.
 10. A method ofconverting an existing storage rack, having forward and rear legs thatextend to the ground into a rack having a recessed base, comprising thesteps of: providing base members that are completely separate from theexisting rack, each base member including forward and rear receptaclesand a downwardly-projecting support leg between said forward and rearreceptacles; and connecting the forward and rear legs of said existingrack to said forward and rear receptacles, with at least said forwardlegs and forward receptacles terminating at an elevation above groundlevel.
 11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein said rear legsextend through said rear receptacles to ground level.
 12. A method asrecited in claim 10, wherein said rear legs and said forward legsterminate at substantially the same height, and said bases have rearsupport legs which extend to ground level.